Central Intelligence Agency - DCI Counterterrorist Center Page 1 of4

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THE WAR ON TERRORISM

DCI Counterterrorist Center

A Call to Action

In the mid-1980s a series of high-profile terrorist attacks

galvanized US policymakers to take the offensive against
international terrorism. A task force chaired by then Vice
President George Bush was formed in 1986 to address the
problem of international terrorism. The task force concluded that
US Government agencies collected information on terrorism,
but did not aggressively operate to disrupt terrorist activities. As
a result of these findings, then Director of Central Intelligence,
William Casey, created the DCI Counterterrorist Center (CTC)
and directed it to preempt, disrupt, and defeat terrorists.

CTC's mission is to assist the Director of Central Intelligence in

coordinating the Counterterrorist efforts of the Intelligence
Community by:

— Implementing a comprehensive Counterterrorist operations Senator Bob Graham (D-Florida),

program to collect intelligence on, and minimize the capabilities left, Chairman of the Senate Select
of, international terrorist groups and state sponsors. Committee on Intelligence, and
Representative Porter Goss (R-
— Exploiting all-source intelligence to produce in-depth Florida) right, Chairman of the
analyses of the groups and states responsible for international House Permanent Select
terrorism. Committee on Intelligence visited
the Counterterrorist Center (CTC)
at the Central Intelligence Agency's
— Coordinating the Intelligence Community's Counterterrorist Headquarters in McLean, Virginia
activities. on the evening of September 19,
2001. Members of both oversight
The Counterterrorist Center's chief also serves as Special committees met with hundreds of
Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence for CTC officers who are working
Counterterrorist matters. CTC's charter allows it to draw on all around the clock to determine who
CIA resources and the talent of other US Government agencies, was responsible for the September
11th terrorist attacks and are
Defining International Terrorism continuing to do everything they
can to deter, disrupt, and defeat
terrorism.
CTC is guided by the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22
of the US Code, Section 2656f(d):

— The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against
noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an

http://www.cia.gov/terrorism/ctc.html 2/9/2004